I believe that we’ve hit a very interesting turning point when it comes to digital marketing.

Over the past 20 years, the online world has presented businesses with an abundance of opportunities to reach people, build their brands, and acquire new customers; However, the landscape has shifted significantly in recent times.

The shift happened when our online lives and offline lives were no longer different places.

We use to “go online” to get information, play games, and talk with friends. Today, we’re never not online (for better and for worse) and yet, most of us still think of digital in a very different way than we think of offline experiences.

Online, the focus is mostly on marketing and advertising, but when customers interact with our businesses offline, our primary concern is providing great service. We know that excellent customer service leads to satisfied customers, repeat business, and word-of-mouth — all of which are crucial to a business’s success.

When we acknowledge that the online and offline worlds have converged to create one fully-integrated experience, it becomes obvious that we need to change how we’re thinking about our digital experiences. Our opportunity is to see digital touchpoints as service in the same way that we serve customers in the “real world.”

Last week, I was invited to speak at the BC Tourism Industry Conference on this very topic, so I’ll share with you some of the same things I told them:

Online Experiences Shape Real World Perceptions

First, when it comes to tourism and hospitality, 80% of the time that a guest spends interacting with a business happens online (that number is probably close for other industries as well). They plan their trips, gather information, ask questions, book reservations, and build their itineraries all on our digital properties.

Which means that their relationship with us, as well as their perceptions of who we are and the services we provide, are formed long before they ever arrive at our businesses.

Service Drives Sales

The vast majority of customers don’t purchase or book because we pushed them; instead, they find us. We spend so much time thinking about the perfect ad copy, the best Instagram call-to-action, or the email campaign that will finally convince them to buy now. But if we’re being honest, we know that most people are discovering us on their own. They’re looking at online reviews, searching on social, Google, and even AI to find the best options, and then they’re finding our brands.

Knowing that, we should start all of our efforts from a place of service. How can we make the process of finding us, learning about us, and booking or buying as easy and enjoyable as it would be if we were talking to them in person? In an online world filled with aggressive sales tactics, the brands that provide genuinely high quality service online will have a significant advantage.

What’s Standing in Our Way?

We’ve spent the past two decades overwhelmed with messages about what we should, or must, be doing with our digital marketing to maximize ROI, ROAS, and lots of other acronyms. Amongst all of that clutter, there hasn’t been space to consider how we actually want to treat people.

I believe that if we can hit the reset button and take a look at our digital presence with fresh eyes, the opportunities to use everything from social media to SEO, websites, and even our advertising as opportunities to serve our customers will become obvious.

How to Get Started

I closed my talk at the conference with the following 5 things that we can all do right now:

  1. Do a digital assessment — experience what it’s like to be your guest
  2. Look for where you’re pushing your message vs where you’re pulling people in
  3. Claim and optimize all of your local listings
  4. Ask your guests — what do they like most/least?
  5. Consider your own travel — what actually made an impact? What threw you off?

And, of course I let them know about our Tourism Digital Marketing Accelerator Program where we’re offering one-on-one coaching with tourism businesses to help them to adopt these principles and drive more direct bookings. If you or someone you know is interested, we’d love to hear from you.